The mile is an English unit of length of linear measure equal to 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yards, and standardised as exactly 1,609.344 metres by international agreement in 1959. With qualifiers, "mile" is also used to describe or translate a wide range of units derived from or roughly equivalent to the , such as the (now 1.852 km exactly), the (roughly 1.852 km), and the Chinese mile (now 500 m exactly). The Romans divided their mile into 5,000 feet but the greater importance of furlongs in pre-modern England meant that the was made equivalent to 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards in 1593. This form of the mile then spread to the British-colonized nations who continue to employ the mile. The US Geological Survey now employs the metre for official purposes but legacy data from its 1927 geodetic datum